AN - It may not end in the place you want a the moment and sorry for the long tie between updates. It was hectic last week. But this is going up now as my mother is sat across from me reminding me I have been in her hours neary 3 days and still have not uploaded. So hear it is. I will try and get another one up as soon as I can! Az xx
Chapter 22
Artair paced back and forth in front of the sputtering fire. The logs popping and cracking as the flames licked around them. The chill in his bones ached slightly as he warmed in the room, his pacing back and forth helping heat him from the inside out. But in the end it only helped to fuel the fire of his anger at the situation he had been placed in.
The more time it took for Robert to appear the more inventive his mind became as it tried to come up with a suitable reprimand for Kendrick. His part in this he would remember for the rest of his life, and he would make sure that he was always making up for his actions here.
His chest was puffed and he thought steam should be appearing from him soon. His anger was palpable and he knew if he did not reign it in soon, then he would lash out in a way he may, just may, regret in the future. Right now thought, his knuckles cracked as he tightened his fists at his sides. His surroundings disappeared as his mind churned over and over, it did not stop, could not stop. Thoughts of Robert and Rohesia flew through him and it increased his anger tenfold.
Footsteps made him pause, his head swinging forcefully towards the door and a tiny flare of pain shot through his neck. But the footsteps only gained in volume till they passed by and faded into the bowels of the house he was currently standing. It was always trying on his patience when he was kept waiting for no reason, and at this very moment, he saw no reason for Robert to have been absent from that doorway. Nostrils flaring with his next breath he shook his head and turned back to his pacing once more. If Robert kept him much longer he would make his way out of this room and hunting him down through the house until he managed to corner the little weasel and show him exactly the kind of pain which could make him give up his lairdship if Artair wanted it.
It was lucky for Robert that all he had to do was break a betrothal. It would be a much less painful experience for him. Not many knew of Artair’s role in the MacKay clan. He had the public face of helping to run the clan, being one of Camdyn’s closest confidents and friends helped in that aspect. But even Aonghus, his own twin, did not know the full extent of Artair’s actions for his clan. He had been trained by the old laird. He had seen a lack from Artair’s own father, he had favoured Aonghus, and the old Laird had leaped into the breach for a young bairn who wished to know what some form of fatherly love was like. Looking back he taught him things that would benefit that clan, but which a bairn should never have been exposed too.
It did give him a few skills, though, which would mean that he was an asset to the clan, and right now, he could make sure everything went his way…but only if he wished to reveal that part of himself to a Laird of another clan.
He worried for a moment. If he could not utilise those skills now, then what was the point? His lower lip came between his teeth as he nibbled on it as he thought deeper into what he could do. It was not an easy situation, and if he really thought about it, he knew the clan could be in danger if he let free the side of him he kept a secret from some of those who are the closest to him. It would have to remain so now…but that did not mean a few of the tricks he knew could be utilised…if they were needed, of course.
Thinking on such things had calmed him enough that he could look forward with more of a level head and think through his emotions. He knew he had needed something to make this happen, but for it to have been something so dark, that he had never expected. With a few deep breaths he was more level headed than he could have thought himself capable of in this very moment. Closing his lids and seeing the light of the fire through the thin skin, the light dancing and the colours merging on the backs of his lids.
Letting his head fall back against his shoulders, he was sure some of the tension had left them over the last few moments. He opened his eyes and viewed the beams a little ways above his head. Seeing the knots and imperfections in the grain. It was telling that even something so ordinary and seen everywhere had such intricacies within it. It was individual and he would never be able to see the same again. Tearing his eyes from the swirling pattern above his head, he turned in the direction of the sound of approaching feet. Only this time, they seemed to grow in sound and only kept growing louder. That was a good sign…or in Roberts view a very bad sign.
Spacing his feet shoulder width apart, he crossed his arms, letting the subtle muscles tense. He kept his face neutral. If Robert did not know what this was about, he wanted to see that for himself. This was not going to start off with Robert in control, and he needed to know that from the start, the male may be Laird, but Artair knew he could take him on at any point…and he knew Robert knew it too.
Blowing out a deep breath, Robert paused by the polished wooden door before him. It has taken him this long to get here to this point, dragging his feet the entire way. If Artair MacKay had appeared to darken his doorstep, he knew that something was wrong. And after the celebration he had had the night before, when he and his men had drank from deeper cups than they should have, he really was in no state of mind to spar with words…or spar with any weapon at all if he really put his mind to it.
He may be Laird of his own clan, but when he finally plucked up the courage to push open the door and saw Artair Mackay in all his stony faced glory…he wanted to turn tail and run, making sure that he was far enough away never to incur MacKay wrath again. But he could not show it. Not in front of his men, and underneath his own roof. Or at least the roof he was leasing for the winter.
He never moved and it was extremely unnerving as Artair seemed frozen in position, and Robert moved in, closing himself in with a caged bear…it may not have been his wisest move and he had a feeling this was all going to end badly. Swallowing hard, he took his time, letting his own neutral expression take over his face, and turned to stare at one of the most dangerous males he had ever met. It was not obvious to most. Artair laughed and jested with the best of them, could drink anyone into a stupor and still carry on to take on the next male. But underneath it all there was a darkness hiding, one that whispered that one should take care, as if you were face to face with a wolf which was circling and wondering whether to attack or not. The only difference was Artair was so still he could have been carved from stone. The danger was there and it could never be underestimated.
He had never actually seen Artair do anything to warrant this thought, but he knew, deep in his gut, that he was not wrong. It was not that he thought Artair was a bad or evil man. Quite the opposite, he knew it would only ever be unleashed upon anyone innocent…the only problem was, Robert knew he was anything but innocent in the eyes of any MacKay, and that made him very, very nervous at that moment. So all he could do was try and get this meeting over with as quickly as possible.
“MacKay, what can I do for you? I would say it was a pleasure, but I think we would both know that was a lie.” Still nothing came from Artair for a moment…two.
He seemed to unfreeze all of a sudden and it took everything in Robert not to show the shock at the movement. “I hear you are betrothed to be married.” It was not a question so he waited for more. Was this the reason he was here, or was it that Artair wished Robert to know he knew what happened beneath his roof? The confusion really was not clearing his fogged mind at all.
“I am going to ask you a question, and I want truthful answers.” It did not matter that Robert was that Laird he was the one who nodded his assent to anything Artair wished to know. Both knowing exactly who was in control of this situation. It would be embarrassing with anyone there to witness, and he knew he had to turn it around soon, or he could end up giving the MacKay all he had just to see the back of him. So he took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders, “Aye, so what is it you wish to know MacKay?”